With her clothes showing the wear of a working day and the biggest smile on her youthful face, she said, “I wasn’t old enough to go on trips before, but I am old enough now!”
At 15, Emma joined her parents to come to Western Pennsylvania and serve others for a week. She decided that instead of a week on summer break where she could be shopping at the mall with friends, she wanted to come stay in an old church, surrounded by people she doesn’t know, and serve Jesus. And she was excited about serving Him!
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
I shared this verse with the team the first morning of Emma’s first official missions trip. God continues to bring me back to this verse as I serve and lead short-term missions. I shared how happy God is with us and how, since we are free in him we no longer have to do anything but we get to be part of God’s Kingdom. We get to serve, and it is exciting!
When I pulled up to the site Emma was serving at I saw this glow in her face as she said they found baby bunnies in a garden they had been weeding out for an elderly woman. Watching her hold this tiny bunny in her hand God brought this verse to mind again but with a new twist.
God loves Emma. He loves her heart to serve. He rejoices over Emma. And, even though she came to serve Him on this trip, he holds her heart just as tenderly as she is holding this baby bunny and he just wants to fill her with joy.
I was reminded then that every time Emma chooses to step out to serve our King, she will be met with a loving Father who cares for her and knows her and wants her to experience full joy in Him.
And He knows that sometimes, the fullness of joy can be found in a small, squeaky little, bunny.
